302 



SMILACEjE. 



Smilax. 



6. SMILAX. Tourn. ; Endl. gen. 1184 ; Griseb. Smil. et Dioscor. in Endl. fy. Mart. fl. 



Bras. p. 3. GREEN-BRIER, rough bindweed. 



[Prom the Greek, smile, a grater; most of the species being rough with prickles.] 



Flowers dioecious. Perianth camparmlate, of 6 leaflets in a double series, somewhat petaloid. 

 Stamens usually 6 (sometimes 5 or 7) : filaments short : anthers linear, innate, introrse. 

 Ovary 3-celled ; ovules orthotropous, one (rarely 2) suspended from the inner angle of each 

 cell : style very short : stigmas 3, thick and spreading. Berry 3- (or by abortion 1 - 2-) 

 celled, 1 - 3-seeded. Seeds globose. Embryo minute, at the extremity of horny albumen. 

 — Shrubby (rarely herbaceous), twining, and mostly prickly plants. Leaves alternate, 

 reliculately veined, more or less cordate, hastate or ovate : stipules bearing tendrils. 

 Flowers small, in little umbels, which are simple, racemose or somewhat paniculate. 

 In Smilax pumila of Walter, the ovary is only one-celled, with a single ovule. 



* Shrubby. 



1. Smilax rotundifolia, Linn. Common Greenbrier, or Cat-brier. 



Stem nearly terete, the branchlets more or less quadrangular ; leaves orbicular-ovate, with 

 a short abrupt acumination, more or less cordate at the base, 5-nerved ; prickles stout, distant, 

 straight or slightly recurved ; peduncles a little longer than the petiole. — Linn. sp. 2. 

 p. 1030; Michx.fi. 2. p. 237; Pursh, fl. I. p. 250; Ell. sk. 2. p. 700; Bigel. fl. Bost. 

 p. 368 ; Torr. compend. p. 373 ; Beck, bot. p. 256 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 566. 



Stem 10-30 feet or more in length, slender, branching, climbing by numerous tendrils, 

 armed with strong sharp prickles, which are about one-third of an inch in length, and dark 

 colored towards the tip. Leaves 2-3 inches long ; the old ones on the main stem larger, 

 often broader than long, and somewhat coriaceous ; the short acumination sometimes abruptly 

 inflexed, so that the leaf appears notched : petioles 4-7 lines long, margined wilh the ad- 

 herent stipules, from the summit of which, on each side, springs a strong tendril. Peduncles 

 slender, 6 - 12-flowered, about the length of the pedicels. Flowers yellowish green : leaves 

 of the perianth equal, oblanceolate. Stamens a little shorter than the ovary : anthers linear- 

 oblong. Berries spherical, about one-fourth of an inch in diameter, bluish black and covered 

 with a glaucous bloom, usually perfecting but a single seed. 



Moist thickets and woods : very common. Fl. June. Fr. October. 



2. Smilax hispida, Muhl. Hispid Greenbrier. 



Stem terete, green, the lower part very hispid, with slender rather soft prickles ; branchlets 

 angular ; leaves ovate, acute, mostly cordate at the base, 5-nerved, smooth and green on both 

 sides, the margin very minutely erose-crenulate ; peduncles twice as long as the petioles. — 

 Muhl. cat. p. 97, and fl. Lancast. ined. p. 785. 



